Human Words for Human People

Years ago, people wrote about the “dead internet theory.” It’s the idea that humans on the internet are a bit like habitable exoplanets — tiny islands in a vast ocean of mostly nothing, where that “mostly nothing” is made up of bots. Now, it’s half conspiracy theory and half grim joke on the continued enshittification of content creation. Whether it’s the coordinated effort of state actors or the natural consequence of the drive for automation and engagement, it seems like we’re hurtling toward a dead internet on a rocket cycle.

So, I’m here to tell you that this blog is entirely human-generated. I come up with the ideas myself, I outline them myself, I research them myself, and I write them myself. I either use my own photos or seek out those by human photographers. When I’m researching, I avoid sources that appear to come from generative AI. The only parts of this process that’re automated are basic grammar, spelling, and SEO compliance checks.

I don’t know who to attribute it to, but I read a great comment not long ago: “How could I be bothered to read something that nobody could be bothered to write?” It’s simple, but it stuck with me. If I can’t be bothered to write something, why should I assume that anyone would bother reading it?

There’s also the fact that I genuinely enjoy making stuff. I like writing. I like making art. I like learning new skills and using them to create things. I can’t imagine automating any aspect of this, because I don’t understand what the point would be. I’m also disabled in a way that makes creating things legitimately difficult. If someone can lose the use of their arms and re-learn to paint using only their teeth, I can sort myself out.

In my experience, arguments in favor of content creation using generative AI seem to come largely from a desire to be someone who has created something, not the desire to create something. This isn’t a strange belief, either — not everyone enjoys the messy, ugly phase that every creative project goes through in the beginning, when the words are unedited, the colors are flat, the melody hasn’t come together, and the bread hasn’t proofed yet. I just think the answer lies in finding a different means of self-expression, not in getting an algorithm to do the hard part.

Every weird turn of phrase and wack idea present here is entirely organic. They’re products of my experiences filtered through my sideshow-quality mind.

(This also means I’m sometimes slow to respond to comments, soz.)

Enjoy, I guess?